Matty Taylor left Bristol Rovers for cross-city rivals Bristol City in acrimonious circumstances on Deadline Day in January, leaving the Gas in the lurch to replace the man who scored 68 goals in 134 appearances during two highly-successful seasons.

Taylor’s firepower helped Rovers on the way towards climbing the English football ladder, with the Pirates surging from non-league obscurity to play-off chasing in League One within two-and-a-half fruitful campaigns.

But how have Darrell Clarke’s men coped since their prolific talisman left for pastures new? We take a look…

Goals, or lack thereof

It’s natural for any club that loses their top scorer, and a player of Taylor’s quality, mid-season to have a slight dip from an attacking point of view and the Gas are no different.

Rovers have only scored more than one goal in a League One match once since New Year’s Eve, a spell that stretches back 11 matches. That came in the 5-0 mauling of Northampton Town at the Memorial Stadium on January 7 when Ellis Harrison netted four times, including a seven-minute, first-half hat-trick.

Since Taylor’s departure, the Pirates have drawn six in succession and largely struggled for clinical potency in front of goal.

Rovers were averaging 1.7 goals per game (gpg) during Taylor’s 27 appearances this term but that has been heavily reduced to just 0.67gpg since his exit (4 in 6).

Taylor has taken his goalscoring talents to the red half of Bristol (Image: Robbie Stephenson/JMP)

This is also reflected in the decrease in shots per game (spg) and those heading towards goal as a result, with the Gas are now averaging 9.5spg, down from 11.8 with Taylor in the side, and just 3.17 on target compared to 5.2 before.

That doesn’t mean Clarke’s men are trying to attack though. Last night’s domination of Bolton culminated in those in the famous quarters earning ten corners for the second game running, their third-highest amount all season and further emphasising the notion that Rovers spent most of the game in the Trotters’ half.

Rovers are also still the joint-fourth-highest scorers in the third-tier, alongside Southend, with 52 goals in 35 matches, behind high-fliers Sheffield United and Scunthorpe, and relegation-threatened Bury.

However, whilst Taylor had netted 16 times in blue-and-white quarters, no other squad member has reached double figures in the league – Billy Bodin (nine) and Ellis Harrison (seven) are next in the list but both helped along their way thanks to hat-tricks against Coventry and Northampton respectively.

The tides have turned defensively?

Clarke noted throughout the January transfer window that he was intent on improving the fortunes of his defence and providing more solidarity in front of Joe Lumley’s goal.

Whilst not directly in Taylor’s neighbourhood, the fact that his parting has corresponded with an upturn in defensive cohesion is perhaps no coincidence.

Without a 20-goal-a-season striker to rely on to fire you to victory, the Gas gaffer made it a fundamental obligation to make the team tougher to beat and less apt to conceding sloppy goals.

Rovers have held firm to earn three clean sheets in their last seven games - after only getting three in their previous 28 – and have only conceded more than once in a League One fixture twice since the first week of 2017.

There has been a distinct improvement statistically, too, since the former fan favourite moved across the River Avon. The Pirates had conceded an average of nearly 16spg (15.52) towards their goal during Taylor’s 27 matches, but have been resolute to allow their last six opponents to only muster an average of just 7.83.

Moreover, time spent in Rovers’ defensive third has naturally decreased, with the last six adversaries averaging slightly less corners per game – 4.83, down from 5.2.

'Brisdraw' Rovers improving form

Whilst the Gas have become somewhat specialists in drawing games recently, collecting six stalemates in succession throughout February, credit must be given where it’s due for the seven-game unbeaten run currently in process.

It may also appear like clutching at straws to say the Pirates three-match unbeaten run away from the Memorial Stadium is impressive, but when you consider that Clarke’s men suffered six straight league defeats away – a run stretching back to the 2-0 win over Oldham on October 22 – before that sequence, it stands even taller.

Factor in that Rovers’ fixture list since Taylor moved on has been anything but easy, facing four of the top six along the way. Tough away games against play-off hopefuls Rochdale and promotion-chasing Bolton looked like stone-wall defeats on paper, while a trip to endangered Port Vale was anything but a walkover.

The Mem may be a proverbial fortress but hosting the likes of fifth-placed Bradford, runaway leaders Sheffield United and Gary Alexander’s Scunthorpe was always going to test the Rovers brigade.

Those in blue-and-white responded with strong performances to match the respectable draws earned, proving that, whilst there may still be a Matty Taylor-shaped hole in the forward line, the Pirates’ are admirably keeping their eyes on the play-off prize in his absence.